CPE, also known as Cost Per Engagement, is an online advertising pricing model where advertisers pay for users that get engaged. In mobile marketing this could be reaching a certain level in a game, registering, playing the tutorial, posting a certain number of comments… after installing and opening the app.

Over the last few months we have experienced a growth in the number of CPE campaigns in the industry. This is mainly due to advertisers’ willingness to get proactive users for their apps.

But, how do CPE campaigns help developers get users engaged?

The answer is simple: by the time the user gets their reward, he or she has been playing the game for some time, posting a number of comments, registering and has seen the products inside of the app… they will already be engaged.

Steps have been previously studied for each campaign by analyzing user behavior inside the app, retention rates and other metrics that we’ll be talking about in the near future.

This engagement is what every developer is looking for, so running campaigns on a CPE basis and with incent traffic allows advertisers to get conversions for cheaper than with non-incent traffic, and they will only pay for the ones that they consider valid.

Also, CPE campaigns allow setting higher payouts than usual prices for incent campaigns. For instance, we currently see payouts for several CPE campaigns over $3.00.

So, what are the pros and cons of running a CPE campaign?

Pros:

Higher Payout:
CPE campaigns usually have higher payouts than conventional non-incent campaigns. You can find campaigns with payouts over $2, which allows publishers to get more traffic for the app.

Higher possibilities to attract new active users:
There are more chances to engage new active users, as the conversion is based on the engagement.

More active users:
User lifetime will be longer than an regular incentive user.

Cost effectiveness:
Cost for advertisers will be lower than a conventional incent campaign.

Cons:

Lower Conversion Rates:
As conversions are not only based on install and open basis, the CR will decrease.

Time effectiveness:
Not valid for impatient users as completing the offer and reaching the goal the takes time.

So, the main point for the engagement will be the app quality.
The engagement will be more difficult if it’s not a good product and viceversa. Entertaining apps will engage more easily new users.